The World Through A Teen Angst Point of View

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I know, I have yet to post about the social experiment, but school starts in two days and I’m resisting the urge to rock back and forth in the fetal position. I’m thinking about starting a legit book blog. Do I have the dedication? This remains to be seen. Stay tuned. Or not. It’s a free country.

(I don’t care if this gif has nothing to do with my post, it’s amazing and will be appropriate for all occasions).

I BLAME TECHNOLOGY!

My laptop was out of sorts the past few months, hence the lack of blogging. BUT I do have something super interesting cooked up (besides my new Wattpad story, that’s an update for another day).

A Teen Experiment.

You guessed it. I conducted a survey with interesting results. The sample size is 15 people, so it’s not something to write home about, but I am very excited to share it. I’ll post it tonight (probably, I’m having a very large sleepover on Monday, so cleaning is what it’s about).

Two months later and I’m still in absolute LOOOOOOOOOOOOVE with this cover. Credits to the girl who made it. I’ve posted seven chapters, have 2 more saved, and am still in love with my story. It might seem cocky or egotistic, but writing a book is like having a literary baby. The baby can be difficult and complicated, or the baby can just connect to your heart and write itself. Yeah, not a terrific analogy but you know what-cats are funny.

Yes, yes, I’m sure you’ve all been utterly bereft without my winning and hilarious posts (ha-ha) but I’ve returned to cure you of your misery. I was in Egypt, in case anyone was wondering, for the entire summer. It took some time to adjust to the differences there, and I had one hell of a craving for Little Caesar’s (a craving which is no longer existent after gorging myself on 4 slices), but I truly enjoyed my time. There’s something…I don’t know. I revel in America because of the comfort, the safety, the predictability. But in Egypt, there’s just this edge of mystery, of taking your life in your hands. Your time is your own. You are master of your own destiny. And I have a lot of really cute little cousins. Apparently I love kids and the feeling is mutual.

So, anyhow, school starts in a few days (I wasn’t left with much time to regroup) and for those of you who paid attention to my mathematical misery, you’ll be relieved to know you don’t have to listen to constant bitching, as I’ve decided to take Statistics (aka easy A).

“You can’t save me.Why do you keep trying?” he whispered. I rested my head against his chest. “Because you’re saving me.” Sophia is starting college in a new state, away from her grief-ridden past. She wants a fresh start, with her cat Poe by her side, and to find her place. The last thing she expected was for a boy with blue eyes and scars deeper than she could imagine to throw her plans out the window

I blame media. I could go on and on, but for now, for anyone who’s not Muslim who happens to be reading this, let me clarify a few things:

1) Do not believe the people who quote random verses of the Quran and cite it as reasons why Islam is militant and evil and bla bla bla. These people cherry-pick verses, translate them on Google, without ever bothering to figure out the context. I could say, “I shot fifteen of them,” and that alone sounds incriminating. But what I said was, “We were playing laser tag, and I won. I shot fifteen of them. Everyone had to buy me pizza.” COMPLETELY DIFFERENT MEANING, RIGHT? But no, these people pick some verse from Surah that they probably couldn’t even pronounce, Google translate, and voila! They look like they have legitimate evidence to back their claims. Don’t try to argue with these people. Your desk has a higher level of comprehension.

2) If, say, there are 16,000 ‘Islamist’ terrorists in the world, that still wouldn’t make 0.001 percent of the Muslim population in the world. What about the rest of us Muslims? Why are we stigmatized because a few crack pots kidnap kids and justify it because they had some imaginary divine calling? I don’t know what religion those psychos prescribe to, but it’s not Islam. My point is, there are so, so many more Muslims in the world that shop in grocery stores, worry about their homework, if their favorite team will win the championships, if these jeans make them look fat.

3) If you don’t believe in Islam, that’s fine. You are entitled to your faith and your beliefs. But aren’t we entitled to ours?

4) For the people who keep throwing the argument that Muslim women in third world countries are stoned, or lashed, or forced into marriage as soon as they hit puberty: stop. Just…stop. I lived in a ‘third-world country’ for two years. It didn’t work out because of personal reasons, and we came back to America. I’m as American as they come. And let me tell you, I saw no women being stoned, not rivers of blood as the gestapo whipped a sobbing woman. Nope. A little nugget of info: if the cherry-pickers would bother actually understanding the Quran, they’d know it was meant to change with the times. It’s principles and doctrines stay the same, of course. But things like punishment and civil law change. This has happened all over the world. Capital punishment in Europe was outlawed. I don’t think anyone uses Chinese water torture anymore. Most American states have outlawed the death penalty. So if that could change, is it such a stretch that the Qurans punishment clauses are based on era?

5) I’m not going to act like a ten year old and say, “But they did it too!”. Let me just say: Crusades. Salem Witch Trials. Pogroms. Holocaust. Ya know, just to name a few.

6) There are extremists in every religion in the world. There are always going to be wackos who are chemically imbalanced and think a good way to get their point across is to kidnap hundreds of little girls and threaten to sell them into slavery.

7) Almost all terrorists cite political reasons for why they do what they do. They’re unhappy with their government, so they use religion as an umbrella to cause anarchy. Just look at what’s happening now- the terrorist group is unhappy with Western schooling. I won’t even pretend to understand that logic, but it’s not religious. Nowhere in any religious text in the world does it say, “and thou shalt not be taught mitochondria”

Hopefully it works. I’m wondering, now that they scandalous secret of my religion has been revealed, how many people are going to prove my point and unfollow me. I hope not. I really hope people are better than pettiness like that.